Recovery ready to fire
A RECOVERY in Townsville’s commercial property market is imminent but yet to show, according to two reports.
Colliers International Townsville’s October report predicts much busier times for Townsville in the next year on the back of major projects.
Herron Todd White’s latest quarterly Townsville in Focus report says there are high expectations for Townsville’s commercial and industrial markets but that both are yet to budge from the bottom of the property cycle.
The Colliers report, compiled by Colin Dwyer of DS Economics, says 52 approved projects worth $ 2.6 billion will create more than 6500 direct jobs in the region.
On commercial deals, it says more than $ 175 million worth of sales have occurred in the year to October, which is slightly down on the previous year after removing big transactions like the $ 132 million sale of Domain Central in 2016.
Colliers managing director Peter Wheeler said the next 12 to 18 months would be a much busier time for Townsville and its economy on the back of major projects.
He said there would be increased demand for construction skills and resources.
Herron Todd White’s Townsville in Focus report says commercial and industrial markets have demonstrated little change over the last quarter and remain at the bottom of the cycle.
“Though we had been ex- pecting the commercial sector to start to move in line with the pick- up in business confidence, progress has not been forthcoming,” the report says.
“The industrial market continues to lag pending more widespread recovery in the local economy.”
The Herron Todd White report says sales of developed commercial and industrial properties continue to “muddle along” with volumes trending around 32 transactions a quarter, slightly down on the number last year.
On non- residential building approvals, HTW says their worth totalled $ 284 million in the year to June, comprising $ 55 million in public works and $ 229 million in the private sector, and just below the $ 286 million value recorded in the previous year.